ISD 696 shares capital levy details on new web page

ELY- The Ely School District has built a website to answer questions on the capital project levy it has placed on the November ballot. The district is asking voters to approve a new levy that will provide $350,000 per year.
The news that the capital project levy website is now live was reported at Monday’s school board meeting. The website can be accessed from the Ely Public Schools webpage at ely.k12.mn.us. The link is in the upper right-hand corner in white letters on the red bar across the top of the webpage.
The link will land a user on a three-page website with detailed information on the levy. “(The website) has all the information on what we’re asking for by category and how the funds will be used,” said Superintendent Anne Oelke. “If this levy doesn’t pass, we will have to make more cuts, and unlike this year, those cuts will be a lot closer to the students.”
The website includes the levy presentation the school board heard at its Aug. 12 meeting, which was covered in the Aug. 16 edition of the Timberjay. The website also has a tool for users to calculate how much the levy will add to property taxes by both month and year. The property tax tool is on the tab marked “property tax information” and is located at the bottom of the page.
Why a levy?
As previously reported in the Timberjay, ISD 696 had a half-million-dollar budget shortfall when developing its 2024-25 budget. To address the gap, the school board opted to spread the shortfall across the next two fiscal years to lessen the impact on students. The district also found ways to cut expenses and increase revenues to slice the shortfall in half before approving its budget for this year.
Ely Public Schools must now find another quarter million dollars in cuts and/or revenue increases for the 2025-26 budget. A capital project levy would help cover the budget shortfall by shifting technology and building-related expenses out of the general fund, allowing more general fund dollars to be used for operations.
The school board’s money crunch is not unique to Ely but is shared by multiple rural school districts across Minnesota, many of which are resorting to new levies to close the funding gap.
Details on the budget shortfall, the 2024-25 cuts, and how Minnesota has shortchanged its public schools over the last two decades are included on the levy website under the presentation tab.
Strategic planning
The school board heard from Oelke that ISD 696 will hold its strategic planning listening sessions on Oct. 2. To help with the strategic planning, ISD 696 is asking that school district families, residents, and stakeholders take the survey now available through the “strategic planning community survey” link on the Ely Public Schools website. The link is in red, under the sliding pictures and above the “Quick Links” section.
Surveys should be completed by Oct. 6 at 11 p.m. For those uncomfortable working online or without good internet access, a paper copy can be picked up at the district office at 600 E. Harvey St. A copy can also be mailed to your home or sent by email. Contact Lori Westrick at 218-365-1727 or lwestrick@ely.k12.mn.us to be sent a copy.